U.S. Senate and U.S. House Democrats have launched a congressional inquiry exploring why the U.S. Department of Justice allowed residential real estate brokerage firm Compass Inc. to expedite its $1.6 billion merger and acquisition of rival company Anywhere Real Estate Inc.
“The fact pattern reported in the Compass-Anywhere deal is deeply disturbing,” several U.S. senators and House members wrote in a seven-page letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“[I]t may be another example of well-connected industries and lobbyists obtaining inside access to high-level Trump Administration DOJ officials, and using this access to pervert the antitrust process to obtain approval of anticompetitive mergers that will reduce competition and harm the public,” the lawmakers added.
Compass under the legal advice of Kirkland & Ellis originally announced it would consummate its planned acquisition of Anywhere “in the second half of 2026” before racing to close the transaction Jan. 9, according to the public statements of the merging parties.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advised Madison, New Jersey-based Anywhere in the residential real estate brokerage’s combination with New York-based Compass.
“Because of their potential impact on costs and markets, reviews of proposed mergers must be guided by an evenhanded process that applies the same scrutiny to all parties—especially in cases like the Compass-Anywhere merger, where consolidation may raise risks of reduced competition, diminished transparency, and higher housing costs for millions of Americans,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in their joint letter to Bondi.
The bicameral-congressional inquiry requests answers from Bondi by March 5 addressing whether the DOJ’s Antitrust Division identified any competition concerns with the Compass-Anywhere merger and why the Justice Department avoided further investigation when approving the deal.
Compass, a tech-enabled real estate services company, fully acquired Anywhere’s assets and brands, including Century 21, Coldwell Banker and Sotheby’s International Realty, in an all-stock combination.
The Compass-Anywhere merger closed months ahead of schedule and five weeks before Gail Slater departed as the DOJ’s top antitrust enforcer.
U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts; Chuck Schumer, D-New York; Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont; and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, are among the 18 federal lawmakers asking Bondi to answer multiple questions regarding Compass’ speedy acquisition of Anywhere and Slater’s sudden Feb. 12 exit as the DOJ’s assistant attorney general for antitrust.
Slater and several of her former top deputies left the DOJ’s Antitrust Division after voicing internal dissent, according to court documents filed by 12 states and the District of Columbia intervening in the DOJ’s divestiture settlement proceedings with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and Juniper Networks.
A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Kirkland team that advised Compass, including corporate lawyer Joshua Kogan, antitrust & competition lawyer Andrea Murino, capital markets lawyer Ross Leff, debt finance lawyer Jason Kanner, executive compensation lawyer Scott Price, litigation lawyer Lindsey Weiss Harris and technology & IP transactions lawyer Seth Traxler did not respond to requests for interviews Wednesday.
Steven A. Rosenblum, of counsel at Wachtell Lipton, served as the lead legal adviser for Anywhere. He did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.
Feb 25
Deal Summary
